The Other Maxwell
by Grace Musica
Summary: [COMPLETE 803] A new Maxwell, with ties to Duo and a secret past, enters Quatre's life. Is this the life catalyst the young Winner heir has needed?
1. Chapter One--Enter Eli

Hey guys! I decided to go back and fix problems I found in 'The Other Maxwell'. For those of you who are not aware of it, I wrote this story back before the chaptering option was avalible; stories in parts were published in parts. It also drove me absolutely bonkers, because I would read half a story, then lose it just when it was getting REALLY interesting. So, I wrote a whole story in one go (took me forever, too). But I don't like how it turned out, so I'm redoing it. The plot's basically the same, I can just go back and expand on the plot a bit, maybe alter one or two (or three or four) things. Consider the first story a rough draft.  
  
M/N: that's allowed, right? Right?  
  
* * * * *  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. I DO, however, own a gundam, but you'll have to fight me for it! ::grabs her Deathscythe model and holds it protectively:: He is... My precioussssssssss. Yesssssssssssssss, preciousssssssssssssss.(sorry guys, LotR overload...)  
  
* * * * * *  
  
The Other Maxwell  
  
by Grace Musica  
  
Chapter One  
  
Enter Eli  
  
* * * * *  
  
[M/N: This is set seven years after EW. For some strange reason, I just thought you'd like to know that...]  
  
Quatre Raberba Winner sighed, walking out onto his balcany. Leaning against the railing, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and smiled. God, he loved the Earth. Fortunately, the family business brought him down from the colonies frequently--so much so that he had bought a house on a bit of real dirt.  
  
Now, he considered it home.  
  
His only regret was that he didn't get to see his friends as much as he wanted to: Wufei was 'putting out fires' with his partner--no, no, Quatre reminded himself, his fiancee--Sally; Trowa was still with his sister Catherine at the circus; and Duo had married Hilde a scarce year ago. Heero, however, was still an enigma. He had dissapeared not long after the Mariemaia incident, and had been rarely seen since then: once by Quatre, when Heero had dragged himself into the Winner house on L4 all bloodied up, got himself cleaned up, spent the night, and left before Quatre had awoken with nothing but a note of thanks behind; once by Duo, who had gotten him a shuttle ticket to the moon and bought him lunch; once by Relena, when he woke her up in the middle of the night simply to tell her that her security sucked; a few times by Wufei, when they were working together on some Preventer project; and he had managed to make it to Duo's wedding. However, they did get an email from Yuy every once in a while, so they knew that he was still alive.  
  
Suddenly, the intense anxiety of someone close by flooded his senses. Breaking off of his chain of thought, Quatre looked down to see a dark-haired young boy, maybe five, six years younger than himself, following a trail of footprints in the dirt. About thirty yards off, he stopped, followed the trail with his eyes and looked up at the sky.  
  
Quatre grinned inwardly as his ears faintly caught the string of curses that erupted from the young boy. Still watching, he saw the lad kick up a cloud of dirt in his rage and storm towards the front gates.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The lad, however, was a lass. Her name was Elizabeth Maxwell--Lizzy for short. She had been raised along with Duo on L2, and, like Duo, had found it more conveinent to pose as a memeber of the opposite sex when running the streets. It was a habit that she had kept with her for her twenty-two years, and she wasn't planning on changing it at the moment.  
  
But, of course, at the moment, she didn't care about her appearence. At the moment, Lizzy was thoughly pissed off.  
  
Lizzy's latest job was taking care of a rather michevious ten-year-old boy. Lizzy was convinced that the child was out to get her. Jacob, her charge, had initially rejected the idea of a nanny, and, since his parents insisted that SOMEONE keep him out of trouble, he was doing everything he could think of to get her fired.  
  
"I'm going to kill him, then I quit this damn job," she promised herself in an undertone. "Honestly, breaking onto Winner property, does that child have a death wish? For me? Even *I* was never this much trouble when I was younger."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Lizzy got quite a shock when she was admited without question into the house. The elderly butler bowed formally to her, and she bowed back, earing a chuckle from the man. When she was informed that they were waiting on her, and if he could only have a name to give to Master Winner, she panicked and almost gave her true name, but caught herself at the last second.  
  
"It's L... Eli. Eli Maxwell, sir."  
  
Following the elder, she wondered why she hadn't immediately dished out her alias. After years and years of using it, it normally sprung to her lips as normally as if it was her real name. Well, it was, she reflected. Eli, as in Elizabeth. Sister Mary Patrick had given it to her as a baby, due to her... position.  
  
Well, there was no use dwelling in the past. Right now, she had bigger fish to fry. Or, more accurately, a child.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Master Winner, Mr. Eli Maxwell is here to pick up the child."  
  
Quatre stood as Eli entered the room. He realized that Eli was maybe a year younger than himself, but was just short for his age. He had short, curly brown hair, bright blue eyes, and a very pretty, childish face. With the big clothes Eli was wearing, he looked like a child playing dress-up in his father's clothes.  
  
He watched his guest's eyes casually scan the room; a practiced movement, something he had seen his fellow pilots do countless times, and he had caught himself doing on a few occassions. This was a man who never let his guard down, not even for an instant.  
  
Deciding to break the ice, Quatre put out his hand in a gesture of friendship. "Hi, I assume the terror in the next room is yours?"  
  
Eli took his hand and shook it, shaking her head. "Thank God, no. Not anymore. I quit. He drives me crazy."  
  
Usually, as Quatre had learned, skin-on-skin contact, such as shaking hands, enabled his phycic ability to feel emotions, and, on VERY rare occassions, he could even read their minds. Here, he met something akin to a brick wall.  
  
Still holding Eli's hand, he looked at her and cocked his head to one side. "Where have I seen you from? You look vaguely familiar."  
  
Eli laughed a little bit. "I'm surprised you remembered me, Mr. Winner. I was at Duo and Hilde's wedding. Duo and I grew up together."  
  
"Oh, yes, now I remember," Quatre nodded, dropping her hand. He did recall. Duo's little brother had sat in the corner all during the reception, and had only associated with a few people, namely Duo and Hilde, and had exchanged a very few words with the other pilots until after the other guests had left and the comerades had sat down to polish off what was left of the alcohol. Then, Eli Maxwell had become open and smiling, joking around with his brother, new sister-in-law, and their friends. At the time, Quatre couldn't figure out what had triggered the change, the wine or Duo's ease with his friends.  
  
Quatre suspected the wine.  
  
"He's right in there." The blonde motioned towards a side doorway, and Eli took the hint and entered.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Well, well, well. I'll be damned. Eli!"  
  
Lizzy stopped dead in her tracks, not expecting to see her adopted brother and his wife. Duo was standing on one side of the room, restraining Jacob--the boy, a bit small for his age, was charging his elder, who had a strategically placed hand on the child's forehead--and Hilde was on the other, watching the two and shaking her head, one hand over her stomach, which was just starting to swell.   
  
"Eli!" Duo repeated, smiling at his 'brother'. "Long time, no s--" He was cut off when Jacob broke lose and tackled him. Somehow, Duo swiftly pried the child off of him and was on his feet, holding Jacob a good foot off the floor by the back of his shirt. "So, been keeping your fighting skills intact, I see."  
  
Lizzy laughed. "You're not kidding." Copying her brother, she took Jacob by the back of his shirt. The boy started wrigling around, trying to get free. Lizzy looked him in his eyes. "You, sir, are in serious trouble."  
  
"Not as much as you, jackass!" Jacob cried, lashing out with his feet. One foot connected with the bottom on Lizzy's jaw, and she dropped the boy, who landed neatly on his feet.  
  
Taking the advantage while Lizzy was recovering, Jacob backed up a few steps and charged. Lizzy easily sidestepped the small boy, grabbed him, bent him over her knee, and started spanking him. Although she wasn't hitting him too hard, he started wailing.  
  
Quatre and Hilde stared at the display, while Duo attempted to smother his chuckles behind his hand. When Lizzy finished, the boy sprung up, kicked her and ran out the door screaming 'You're fired!'.  
  
Lizzy started after him, but Quatre put a hand to her shoulder, stopping her. "He'll be found by someone. Why don't you sit and stay with us for a while?"  
  
"Gladly." She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I REALLY hate that child."  
  
"Oh, little bro, I feel sorry for you," Duo said, catching Lizzy in a hug, which she returned.  
  
"I, however, feel sorry for Hilde and company," she replied smoothly as Duo released her, winking at her sister-in-law. "Congrats."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Eli? What are you going to do now?"  
  
Lizzy turned towards Quatre, who was wearing a worried look on his face. "Well, I'll take Jacob back home, collect what few clothes I have, and start job hunting again. It's that simple."  
  
"Hey, Quatre, I know! Could you do me a big favor and hire my little brother? He's well behaved, he's nice to strangers, and he's housetrained!"  
  
Lizzy looked at Duo. "Thanks." The word was dripping in sarcasm.  
  
"That just might be a good idea..."  
  
The Maxwell siblings looked at Quatre, who had a thoughtful look on his face. "Oh, Duo! Look at what you did! Mr. Winner, you really don't have to do anything, I'll be just fine by myself, honestly," Lizzy insisted, glaring at Duo.  
  
"Actually, I DO need someone. I was just about to put out an ad for a worker. Since you're Duo's family, you're hired. When can you start?"  
  
Lizzy stared at Quatre. "Today just gets stranger and stranger."  
  
Duo snickered. "Warning: You're crazy, Quatre."  
  
* * * * * 


	2. Chapter Two--The Accident

Like I said, I'm chaptering this now. I can expand on things! Woo hoo! I'm so happy...  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Other Maxwell  
  
by Grace Musica  
  
Chapter Two  
  
The Accident  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What the hell are you doing, Maxwell?"  
  
Duo looked up innocently at his sister. She had just quit her babysitting job earlier today, and was unpacking her personal possessions--books, a few pieces of jewlery, a nicknack or two, and a few articles of clothes--and putting them away in the bedroom Quatre had given her. Duo was sitting on her bed, watching her.  
  
He grinned at her. "Well, let's think about this. You were in need of a job. Quatre's a good guy. You'll enjoy working for him."  
  
Lizzy raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?"  
  
"Why, you think I have another motive?"  
  
"You've always had another motive, Duo. I've known you since you were five and I was four, and even then, you still had secret motives."  
  
Duo grinned. "You're right, but I don't have one this time."  
  
"Riiiiiiight, bro."  
  
Duo stood, kissed Lizzy on her forehead, and walked for the door. "Good night, sis. You'd better get some sleep. Slavemaster Winner's gonna want you up with the sun."  
  
"OUT, MAXWELL!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
After about a week, Lizzy found herself calling the Winner mansion home. Duo had been right; Quatre demanded discipline and good work, but was understanding as well. Lizzy learned that when she accidentally knocked over a vase on her first day. Quatre had seen the whole thing, and even helped her clean up the mess, with Lizzy protesting and appologizing every second.  
  
Even Lizzy's work schedule, when she reflected, was better than some she'd had in the past. Friday night though Sunday, she had a weekend guard post with her new friends in the Maganac Corps (especially Rasid. the two had become very fast friends, actually. in fact, he was one of the few privy to her secret.) and was allowed Monday off to catch up on sleep. Tuesday though Friday, she was up with the sun to help either in the kitchens or cleaning around the house until noon, an hour lunch break, down to program computers for about two hours, then she was allowed to do whatever she wanted. Usually, she snuck into Quatre's music room and played various instruments softly to herself.  
  
Of course, with her luck, she got caught not too long after she started up this practice.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Lizzy had no idea how long Quatre had been standing in the doorway. Hell, she hadn't even known he was even there until he had spoken. She had been playing his violin, back to the door, humming to herself.  
  
"Eli?"  
  
Eli jumped about a foot and turned around quickly. "O-o-oh, Master Winner, I'm sorry, I didn't know I wasn't allowed--"  
  
"Really?" Quatre bent down and picked up a bent hairpen. "Then what's this for?"  
  
Lizzy's hand went up to behind her ear instinctively.   
  
Quatre nearly laughed out loud at the shocked look on Eli's face. "You're pretty good. Where did you learn?"  
  
Lizzy couldn't believe her ears. "T-t-thank you sir. Sister Mary Patrick taught me, when I was younger. She said that some discipline would be good for me."  
  
Quatre laughed a little bit. "I think maybe she should have taught Duo some discipline."  
  
"Well, they sure tried, but it didn't really work. Punishments used to jump out at us from around every corner. The brassworks were shiny every week: the two of us polished it fairly every day."  
  
Quatre laughed at that. "I'd believe it." He walked over to the piano and sat on the bench. "Now, what am I to do with a disobedient Maxwell? Make him polish?"  
  
Lizzy hung her head in shame, her face turning red.  
  
"... Nah, I don't think so."  
  
Quatre reached over, picked up some sheet music, and threw it in front of Lizzy's feet. "Play."  
  
Lizzy looked up, a bit confused. "Y-yes sir." She put the violin under her chin and ran the bow across the strings.  
  
When she was done, Quatre appaluded politely. "And I've just come up with your punishment, Eli."  
  
Lizzy swallowed. "And that would be?"  
  
Quatre stood and grinned. "You're my new orchestra director. You're free to use this room whenever you want. And I'll get you a key, so you won't have to break into this room anymore."  
  
* * * * *  
  
A month and a half after Lizzy started working, she awoke to a pounding at her bedroom door. She rolled over and looked at her alarm clock.  
  
She sat up, jammed her feet into some slippers, grabbed her robe and stumbled towards the door, grumbling.  
  
"Three in the morning on Monday... This had BETTER be good..."  
  
Yanking the door open, she met Abdul's eyes. Or, more precisely, Abdul's sunglasses. Lizzy glared at him bitterly. "Don't you EVER take those damn things off?"  
  
"Shut up. I've got bad news. One of the Winner girls was in an accident."  
  
"Which one?" Lizzy asked, rubbing her eyes.  
  
"The eldest--Maria," came the answer.  
  
Lizzy stopped, mid-yawn. Lizzy had actually met Maria. The 29 year-old Winner--actually, now a Donovan--looked like Quatre, except with brown hair instead of blonde. She had also met Quatre's two nieces and nephew--four-year-old twins Thomas and Natalie and a new baby, Audrey. Although Maria had been married for now on twenty-five years, getting pregnant had been difficult. "Is she alright?"  
  
Abdul pursed his lips and shook his head as Lizzy gasped. "What about the twins? And Audrey?"  
  
"That's why you're up. Rashid said I was to get you up. You're gonna watch the kids. They're in Quatre's study."  
  
"Give me ten minutes."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Lizzy walked down the hall, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. She needed a haircut, and soon. One of the things that always drove her crazy was her hair in her eyes. Plus, she could almost start passing as a girl if she wasn't careful.  
  
She pushed the heavy door to Quatre's office open silently. Rashid was standing next to Quatre, speaking into a low voice. Quatre had his elbows on the desk, and his face buried into his hands. The twins were sharing a chair, sound asleep. The newest Maganac recruit, Muhammed, a young man of nineteen, was holding a bundle of blankets--Audrey.  
  
Lizzy walked up to Quatre's desk and bowed formally in front of him. "Mr. Winner, my condolences. Although I know that it doesn't help, but I'm offering them."  
  
Quatre looked up at Eli. He was dressed all in black, and a large hunk of hair was missing in the back. He knew what it was strait off: An old warrior's sign of mourning for a fallen comerade was cutting off a finger's length of hair. It struck Quatre as odd that a man who hardly knew him--and vice versa--showed such a loyalty. There sure was something special about Eli Maxwell.  
  
Lizzy sighed as she looked down on her employer. His appearace pulled at her heartstrings: The boy was obviously mourning hard. Still dressed in his pjs with a robe thrown over it, his blonde hair was a mess, tear tracks stained his face, and big red marks from the heels of his hands framed tear-filled blue eyes. She gave him a small, understanding smile, and walked over to the washstand Quatre had in the back corner. She dipped the small handtowel into the water, rung it out a bit, and gave it to Quatre. He looked at her questioningly.  
  
"I know this'll be hard for you to hear, but clean yourself up. I'll take care of the kids--you take care of yourself."  
  
Quatre stared numbly up at her. She sighed, knelt down next to him, and wiped his face, as if he were no older than his niece and nephew, talking all the while.  
  
"Look, Quatre, I can't say I know what you're going though, because, well, I don't. I'm not in your position, and I personally wouldn't want to be. I can understand maybe more than others would. But I want you to think about this: You've got three kids looking at you for strength and support. There's a curious little thing about small children--they immitate what they see. And if they see strength, they'll live strength."  
  
Quatre looked up at Rasid, who nodded. "He's right, Master Quatre."  
  
Quatre looked back over at Eli, to find that she had moved over to the chair and was picking up Natalie. She stirred awake as Eli touched her. "Hey sweetheart," the elder greeted the child in her arms.  
  
"Hi Mr. Maxwell," the little girl replied in a small, wavering voice. Her brilliant green eyes were brimming with tears. Eli brushed them away.  
  
"I'm sorry, baby. I'm so, so, so very sorry."  
  
Natalie sniffled and burried her head into Eli's shoulder, who pulled her close into a hug. The lass let out a huge sob, and Eli tried to soothe her by rocking and stroking her hair. Finally, Quatre stood and took her into his own arms. Eli surrendered the child and picked up the other twin, who was, fortunately, a much heavier sleeper.  
  
Following Rasid, the three occupants carried their charges upstairs into a guest room that had been converted into a makeshift nursery within twenty minutes. They set the kids into their beds--Natalie had cried herself to sleep by now--and Muhammed, Rasid, and Eli prepared to leave the Winners to themselves to grieve.  
  
However, at the door, Quatre made a request.  
  
"Mr. Maxwell, will you come and talk with me please?"  
  
Eli turned around. "Yes sir."  
  
Lizzy followed Quatre in scilence into Quatre's own bedroom. He motioned for her to sit down on the edge of the bed--which she did--and started pacing.  
  
"Am I in trouble, Mr. Winner?"  
  
Quatre looked sharply over at Eli. He was wringing his hands and looking a bit nervous. /I guess I shouldn't've been so secretive with him. I proably scared the hell out of him./ "No, no, you're not in trouble, I just wanted to talk to you."  
  
"Okay. Well, then, go on."  
  
"It looks like I'll be needing a babysitter for a while. I know you look after kids. Would you bother terribly if I had you watch my nieces and nephew? They're a bit younger than you're used to, I know..."  
  
"Oh, no sir, I would enjoy that very much!" In her excitement, Quatre felt her walls drop just a bit. He felt a whole jumble of emotions and worries: eagerness to watch the kids and worry over them; sorrow for Maria's death; an intense desire to talk to Duo; and something else, something he couldn't exacally put his finger on. Quite suddently, he was cut off from her again. "They're sweet as can be, and I would enjoy taking care of them."  
  
Quatre sighed in relief. "Thank you, Eli."  
  
"I'm indebted to you, Mr. Winner. If you hadn't given me a chance on ten minutes converation, five of which were spent beating a child, I would've been out of my ass. It's the least I can do, sir."  
  
Quatre looked at Eli. "You are NOTHING like Duo. He would never be so formal with me all the time, like you are."  
  
Eli looked down, a bit embarassed. "You'd be surprised, sir. Duo and I are practically identical, when you get us both drunk enough." She grinned. "Actually, my brother would do the exact same thing I am. He holds you in very high respect, Mr. Winner."  
  
"But aren't we friends? Can't you just drop the formalities for one minute?"  
  
Eli looked up at Quatre and grinned wider. Quatre was suddently struck by how much she looked like Duo. "You're my friend, Mr. Winner. But you're also my employer. That's just always first and foremost in my mind."  
  
Quatre sighed again, this time in defeat. Eli at him; his whole body spoke of fatigue and grief, from the slump in his shoulders to his shuffling footsteps. She stood, preparing to leave. "You should get some sleep, Quatre. You've got a long road ahead."  
  
Quatre nodded. "I know." He sniffled a bit and, quite suddently, fell to the ground sobbing. He felt a huge wave of sympathy coming from Eli but was too tired and upset to care that she had let walls down. He let her help him out of his robe and into bed. As she was leaving the room, he got a hold of himself enough to thank her for all of her help tonight.  
  
"No problem." Eli gave him a peace sign. "Hey, if you need anything, you know where my room is. And I mean that as a friend speaking to another."  
  
Eli felt his gratitude flood though her mental walls. "I'll keep that in mind."  
  
Lizzy nodded and shut the door quietly. She could hear Quatre softly crying through the door. She managed to make it all the way to her own room before breaking down herself. She leaned against the inside of her door, sobbing for the kids, for Quatre, for Maria, and for herself.  
  
She looked up to heaven, praying. "Ohmigod, I've fallen in love with him."  
  
* * * * * 


	3. Chapter Three--Eli's Past

Dude, I am having SO much fun redoing this story! I can go back and add everything I wanted to in the original, but either forgot or didn't put in because the story was long enough as it was. And it's like one in the morning while I'm typing this, so any mistakes are being blamed on STEVE!  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Other Maxwell  
  
by Grace Musica  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Eli's Past  
  
* * * * *  
  
Three weeks later, life was still rough at the Winner household, but it was inproving. In the few weeks that Lizzy had been pulled off of her posts and put into the nanny position, the children had inproved greatly. She planned all types of activities for them to do, some fun, some intellectual: She took them to plays and parks, concerts and museums. She started the twins on music lessons, took the three swimming (she wore a shirt), and the three constantly played together, Lizzy's 'Peter-Pan Syndrome' coming up with wonderful games for them to play, and inventing new ones.  
  
Their all-time favorite thing, however, was to go and visit the Maganacs. They did it every afternoon, and made everyone happy: The twins got to play with the Corps memebers (and learn about mechanics--something Lizzy thought was good for discipline) and Lizzy got to talk in private to Rasid, mind at ease.  
  
The 'mind at ease' part took a sharp turn for the worse that week. Rasid and Lizzy suspected foul play, but didn't dare bring it up around Quatre--he was just starting to get better.  
  
The thing that really tipped Lizzy off was the husband--or, more precisely, the lack of the husband. Also, the set-up was quite disturbing: Maria had supposedly been in a car accident. Too easy to rig, Lizzy knew that firsthand.  
  
How she knew the curcumstances... That was a different story.  
  
Quatre's grief had lowered his mental walls--and it was driving Lizzy crazy. It was especially bad at night, when her own mental walls weren't as strong. She was absolutly certain that she was sharing a few of Quatre's dreams--that's how she found out about the car crash--and even shy Thomas complained to her about it. A private talk with Quatre quickly solved that problem.  
  
As Lizzy turned the twins loose, Rasid walked up to Lizzy's elbow. "You'll want to read this."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Rasid,  
  
"You didn't hear this from me, but after doing some poking around in the hospital, I dug up the medical report on Maria Winner. It wasn't easy, but I did it. Here's the strait arrow: Maria Winner was initally involved a car accident, but she didn't DIE from the accident. Traces of arcenic were found in her bloodstream..."  
  
"So I was right," Lizzy said, looking up at Rasid, who was standing behind her. "So... What do we do?"  
  
"Well, two things: One, find out who killed her--and why-- and two, find a way to keep Quatre from finding out about it." Rasid walked over to the table and sat down, head in hands.  
  
"You know what I think," Lizzy said, turning around in her chair. "Her husband did it."  
  
Rasid sighed. "But he's dead. His brother said he killed himself when he found out what happened."  
  
"I haven't seen a body. When I see a body, then I'll be satisfied."  
  
Rasid looked up. "Okay, then mistress. Suppose your story is true: Johnathan Donovan killed his wife, then faked his own death. Give me a reason."  
  
Lizzy looked uncomfortable for a split-second, then recovered. "Easy: Money." Lizzy grinned. "One thing Duo taught me--always trace the money trail."  
  
Rasid sighed again and looked over at little Audrey, who was in her baby carrier on the table. "Let's not think about that. I don't like the idea of some low-down bastard marrying a very sweet, kind woman just because she had a nice bank account."  
  
"I think we should think about it. If I'm right, then Quatre's in trouble, too."  
  
"Okay then, genius, what the hell do we do?"  
  
"Put someone on him. A bodyguard."  
  
"Nice idea, but you're forgetting one thing--he's not supposed to know we're on him."  
  
"Well, duh. Stick someone that would naturally be close to him."  
  
"You mean, like the twins? Or someone else... Watching them, maybe?"  
  
Lizzy blinked. "I... didn't think of it that way, but yes, I guess I could do it."  
  
Rasid gave Lizzy a searching look. He grinned slightly. "You like him, admit it."  
  
"WHAT?! No! No, I don't! Well--I-I-I mean, I like him as a friend, but--OH, damnit, Rasid!" Lizzy finished badly, turning bright red [M/N: yes, Kou, a la David]. She pushed her chair back from the computer, pissed that Rasid had seen though her.  
  
Rasid grinned. /Things are never boring at the Winner household./  
  
* * * * *  
  
The next day, Lizzy started her incognito guard duty by asking Quatre if he would like to join in on a trip to a museum with the kids, which he assepted. Together, the five went to the downtown museum of natural history. Lizzy kept on her guard, her eyes watching for anyone who might be following them.  
  
/All's clear, not an enemy in sight,/ Lizzy mentally reassured herself, But that little nagging voice in the back of her mind came up, full force:   
  
/But enemies can be unseen. Remember your childhood?/  
  
"Eli, is something the matter?"  
  
Quatre's question cut through her chain of thought, making her jump slightly. "Oh, no sir, Mr. Winner. Just lost in thought."  
  
Quatre sighed. "I somehow recall us having this conversaiton. Call me Quatre, please."  
  
Lizzy grinned. "Yes sir, Mr. Winner."  
  
"Eli..."  
  
"But sir!" she protested, grinning wider. "You gave me an order. Not to call you Mr. Winner."  
  
Quatre looked over at Eli, who had a Maxwell smile plastered on his face. "I did, didn't I?"  
  
Eli nodded, and, quite suddently, the two burst into laughter. Natalie looked up at the two. "What's so funny?"  
  
Eli squatted down to Natalie's level and ruffled the child's hair. "Nothing that should worry you, Nat."  
  
"Well, then, come on and read this for me an' Tom!"  
  
Quatre chuckled to himself as he watched Eli being bodily dragged by the three-year-old twins over to an exibit. He was surprised at how much the younger Maxwell had changed in the space of a few short weeks. Eli was more socible, smiled and laughed a whole lot more, openly displayed a fierce love for the kids, and began to have conversations with Quatre that weren't business.  
  
Apparently, it hadn't been the wine.  
  
The five mde their way around the museum, Eli and Quatre reading exibit signs to the kids. Finally, they reached an outdoor exibit that had a little playground. The elders turned the twins loose, then sat together on a bench, watching them, Eli holding Audrey in her arms.  
  
"So, if I may ask, what were you thinking about so hard?"  
  
She pressed her lips, wondering if he should get the truth or the fabricated story she always dished out. She decided on the truth, or at least a bit of it. "Growing up on L2 with Duo."  
  
"You were a war orphan?"  
  
Eli chuckled. "Not exacally."  
  
Quatre cocked his head to one side, confused. The dark-haired Maxwell gently rocked Audrey, humming softly. "You could say that I was a war orphan, but not the one that orphaned Duo."  
  
"You mean, like a political war?"  
  
Eli nodded. "My father--heh, more like the man who got my mother preagnant--was a rich and powerful man. He was in the political spotlight, big time. My mother worked for him as a secretary."  
  
"Oh, I see. Work relationship."  
  
"Exacally. However, the man didn't come into the money and power naturally--he married into it. When he found out about me, he tried to kill my mother. Many times. Posion, beatings, guns... He tried everything. So, at the end of her very short rope and not wanting to put any of her family in the line of fire, she moved from her home colony to Earth for a short while, then back up to space at eight months, trying to throw my father off her scent. Eventually, she found the Maxwell church, and I was born not too long after that."  
  
Eli lapsed into scilence. Quatre, wanting to hear the story finished, asked her to continue.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, I drifted off there. Anyway, about two, three weeks after I was born, my mother was executed. No, not shot, executed. They captured her, shot her through the stomach, and let her bleed to death."  
  
Quatre was shocked. He couldn't believe that anyone could treat a fellow human being like that. "I'm sorry."  
  
She smiled a bit. "I don't even remember my mother. I honor her memory, and the fact that she sacrificed her life so I could live by lying to my father, telling him that she was still pregnant. But I have no sympathy for my father. If I ever find him, and give him the time of day, it'll be either a right hook or a bullet."  
  
"I understand why you hate him so, but isn't that a little extreme?"  
  
"He robbed me of a normal childhood, not to mention tried to prevent my birth," she snapped back, a little fiercer than she meant to. "I think that's the least he deserves. At least I'd have mercy and make it quick."  
  
Quatre put a friendly hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I should've controlled myself, Quatre."  
  
"It's alright. But please, keep going. What happened after that?"  
  
"Well, after that, I was taken in as a ward of the Maxwell church. A young nun, Sister Mary Helen, mainly took care of me as a baby up until I would walk and talk. You see, Sister Mary Helen was about 25, and actually, she was still in training when she started caring for me. She had lost a baby to sickness a few months before. So, she was the only person who could nurse at the time, so I was stuck with her. She was the closest to a mother I ever got. And she knew my mother's story, so she related it back to me--minus my mother's death--as a child."  
  
"Where did you learn to play music?"  
  
Eli smiled and tipped her head back, eyes shut. "That was Sister Mary Patrick. Her philosophy was that idleness breeds problems, especially in children who've lost one or both their parents. That's part of the reason why I keep the twin so busy." The dark-haired girl chuckled. "And, although the church didn't like violence, she managed to get me into karate lessons. That disciplined me very well. And, it's also part of the reason why I'm not enitrely social with people I don't know very well."  
  
"And when did you meet Duo?"  
  
"When he was seven and I was six. I'm small for my age--always have been--so I look about five years younger than my brother. I remember that day very well: I was polishing the pews--a common punishment for bad behavior--and one of the nuns was trying to cut off his long hair. I thought he was a girl until I heard him yelling. And--" Here, she lowered her voice and leaned in closer to Quatre, as if trying to keep Audrey from hearing. "His language for a seven-year-old. Well, all I can say about it is--damn."  
  
Quatre chuckled a bit. "Sounds like Duo."  
  
"Yeah, and he was ALWAYS getting in trouble. He ran with a group of goth kids--that's partly where he gets the whole 'God of Death' thing from. I can't count the amount of times Father Maxwell fussed at him for it. 'Stay away from the goth kids, Duo. They're crazy, Duo.' But did he listen? Noooooooo."  
  
[M/N: two things here: one, that's for you, Kou. two: that's from a RPG with Duo and a phyco goth character. original quote: 'I should have listened to Father Maxwell. 'Don't hang with the goth kids, Duo. They're crazy, Duo.' But did I listen? Nooooooo.]  
  
"Anyway, Solo--he had taken me under his wing too, he was about seven years older than I was--took him in too, and our little family came together."  
  
"You mean, you all thought of yourselves as brothers?"  
  
Eli nodded, smiling. "The Maxwell Church children were close, but Solo and I were the outcasts. We waged a constant war against the others, but ours was a battle of wits. As just me and Solo, we lost more than we won, but with Duo along for the ride, we started to win more and more. Solo and Duo would roam the streets, then take me back after all my lessons. After we changed, of course."  
  
Quatre was looking confused again. "Since we were wards of the church, we wore clothes provided by the church. Mostly, garments of the cloth. So we had a change of street clothes to run around and act stupid in."  
  
"Oh, I see." He watched Eli rock Audrey, who was just starting to fuss, back and forth. "And I'm assuming you learned about taking care of children in the church, too?"  
  
Eli nodded. "There was a nursery that was always at least half-full. Father Maxwell loved children; it kinda rubbed off on me. Of course, I couldn't help out as much as I wanted too--I had to clean the church alot.  
  
"I was about ten, eleven, when the church was bombed. Duo and I were lucky enough to escape that. We were the only survivors."  
  
Quatre was silent, waiting for her to continue. He didn't have to wait long.  
  
"Sister Mary Patrick, who was going on about seventy, had taken ill. Solo was staying by her bed--she had practically raised him, too--and Duo and I went out to run to the drugstore to get her medicine. God, I remember it like it was just yesterday. We were racing back from the store, and Duo was ahead of me, as usual. I reached out to grab his braid, to slow him down. We were laughing and joking around when there was this huge explosion. It knocked us to our feet, and we ran as fast as we could back home. It was... horrible. Terrifying. It stil haunts me in my dreams."  
  
"I know the feeling."  
  
"Well, after that, Duo and I stuck together for five more years, until he went off to fight with Deathscythe. Oh yes," she said, catching Quatre's surprised look out of the corner of her eye. "I know all about that can of worms. He was trained as a pilot, and I worked as a mechanic. He dropped me off on Peacemillion before things exploded, so I worked on all of them, in fact."  
  
"Well, then, why weren't you social at Duo's wedding?"  
  
Lizzy sighed. "Becuase of my father's actions, I've lived life very carefully. I'm extremely cautions, and, if you'll recall, I became more social after everyone else left. And, Quatre, it wasn't the wine."  
  
Quatre blushed. "I need practice on my walls, eh?"  
  
"Oh yeah. But it's alright."  
  
"Sorry." Quatre chuckled. "And after the war?"  
  
"Odd jobs, here and there. Mostly teaching, a babysitting job or two. Nothing like this. This is just plain heaven."  
  
"Can I ask you a question? About your father?"  
  
Eli sighed. "Why not? You'd find out anyway."  
  
"Oh! I am hurt that you think I would stoop to such a level as to pull up your personal records!" Quatre said, mock hurt.  
  
"I wasn't talking about pulling up records, you phyco phycic," Eli teased back.  
  
At that, Quatre snickered. "Okay, okay, you win, you win. What was his name?"  
  
Lizzy sighed. "You're not going to believe this. You know him--hell, he's family."  
  
"Beg pardon?"  
  
"His name was Johnathan Donovan. I was born Eli Donovan, but rejected the name and adopted Maxwell as a last name."  
  
"But-but! That means we're related by marriage!"  
  
"No it doesn't. Quatre, he's not my father. Genetically, yes, but other than that, no." She looked down at Audrey and stroked her cheek. "These guys, however, are my little siblings, blood and heart."  
  
"Well, then... You'd be the next of kin, wouldn't you? That means you would be their legal guardian."  
  
"Oh, Quatre... I don't think I'd be able to take care of them the way you would be able to. You'd be much better as their legal guardian. And besides, they don't know me. I mean, not as family, like they do you. In fact, I'd even prefer that you didn't tell the twins about this conversation."  
  
"Eli..."  
  
"Please, Quatre, you can't tell them! They would be just as confused as we are, even moreso. Plus, I don't want them to know about their father's mistake."  
  
"Eli, you weren't a mistake."  
  
Lizzy scoffed. "Yes I was. Nither of my parents intended to produce a child. Ah, well... I'm sorry about your sister, though. I don't think she ever knew."  
  
Quatre sat in scilence as Natalie and Thomas ran up to them, smiling and laughing. He shook his head to himself. /Amazing. I had no idea that my brother-in-law had done such a thing. Pity, really. I would have liked to have Eli around, when I was growing up./  
  
* * * * * 


	4. Chapter Four--The Party

Chapter four! WOO HOO!  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Other Maxwell  
  
by Grace Musica  
  
Chapter Four  
  
The Party  
  
* * * * *  
  
Lizzy frowned to herself, something she'd been doing alot as of late.   
  
A tap on the shoulder broke her from her chain of thoughts, as well as scared the hell out of her. Whipping her head around, she came face to face with her brother. "Problems?"  
  
"Damnit, Duo!"  
  
"I'll take that as a yes, then. Come on, little sis, Quatre wants you."  
  
"Okay, okay, I'm coming."  
  
Lizzy rose, smoothed out her suit jacket of wrinkles and followed Duo out the door. He slowed his pace to match hers, and the two Maxwells walked down the empty hall side by side.  
  
"How are the little ones?"  
  
"Better than to be expected, actually. They're taking things very well. Of course, they're still hurting, but I think they'll be fine. Hell, better than I turned out to be, at least."  
  
"This is true."  
  
Lizzy glared at Duo, who smiled innocently back at her. Lizzy shook her head. "I am unloved and unappreciated."  
  
"And underpaid to boot."  
  
"Shut up. Besides, you're one to talk. I swear, you're the perfect example of people who SHOULD use birth control."  
  
"Ah, ah, sis. It's a sin, remember?"  
  
Lizzy laughed. "Okay, Father. Speaking of, when's Hilde due?"  
  
"Oh, about four weeks." He stopped dead in his tracks, and Lizzy stopped next to him. "Liz, I don't think I've ever been more terrified in my entire life."  
  
"Oh, bro, you'll do fine." She reached up and gave Duo a reassuring hug. "Now, shall we?"  
  
Duo put out his arm. "Oh, but of course, little brother."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Hi guys! It's nice to see all of you again!" Lizzy greeted Quatre and the former Gundam pilots cheerfully with a smile and a wave. Lizzy was secretly impressed--all of them had turned up for Quatre's birthday. Even Yuy had made an apperance.  
  
"Hn. The last time I saw this kid, he had to get drunk to be that cheerful," Heero commented dryly.  
  
Lizzy gave him a dirty look. "At least I'm sociable."  
  
Heero put a hand to his heart. "Touche." All of his mannerisms were dripping with sarcasm.  
  
Duo ruffled Lizzy's short hair. "But of course, you must remember, this is my brother you're talking to. He inherited the Maxwell attitude."  
  
"Oh, fortuitous am I."  
  
Wufei snorted at that. "This, I must say, is true."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Guys, I love you and all, but I actually have to get to work," Lizzy commented about twenty minutes later. "My assistant direcor is either getting tired or pissed at the moment, so I'd better go relieve him." She stood, pushed her chair back under the table, and leaned against the back. "Any requests?"  
  
"Something good, for once." Guess who.  
  
"Maxwell, are you asking for it?" Lizzy asked, shaking a fist playfully at him.  
  
"No sir! Sorry sir!"  
  
Everyone chuckled at Duo's immediate surrender to his younger brother.  
  
Lizzy rolled her eyes at Duo. "Excuse me."  
  
* * * * *  
  
/So... After all these years, you're still alive. Amazing. You have thwarted me for all these years, and now I know. Oh, yes./  
  
A dark-haired man was hanging in the shadows. He casually pulled a pistol out of his pocket and twirled it around expertly on one finger.  
  
/First, I'll get rid of you, and then I'll get rid of the brats. And then... It's mine./  
  
* * * * *  
  
Lizzy rubbed her arms, as though she had felt a sudden chill. /Something's wrong... Very wrong./  
  
Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks.   
  
/Here./  
  
She turned to the door on her right and flung it open.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The man was aiming his pistol at Quatre, hammer cocked. He jumped as Lizzy slammed the door open, and pulled his aim off Quatre. Spinning around, they came face to face.  
  
"You," she hissed. "Johnathan Donovan."  
  
"Well, well. I finally get to meet my eldest daughter." Donovan pointed the gun at her. "And kill you to boot."  
  
"I'm no daughter of yours, you son of a bitch," she spat out, teeth clenched.  
  
"Now, now, now, such language for a girl! You must be punished!"  
  
Before Donovan had pulled the trigger, Lizzy had ducked and knocked him off his feet. His hand went up into the air as the gun went off, sending the bullet into the ceiling.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"GET DOWN, EVERYONE!"  
  
The cry, accompanied by a gunshot, rang out loud and clear over the soft music playing. Acting instictively, the pilots scattered, all running for the stairs on the other side of the room. Five more gunshots came from the balcany, then the five men watched as a body teetered, then fell, over the balcany with a scream and landed with a sickening thud. Trowa, the closest to the body, felt for his pulse, then shook his head.  
  
He turned him over and Quatre gasped. "That's my brother-in-law! But how...?"  
  
"I got him."  
  
The guys looked up to see Lizzy, bleeding from the mouth, the head, and from a wound in the shoulder. She wiped her mouth, brushed the hair and blood from her eyes and grinned, totally out of it. "They're safe, I got him." Then, she promptly passed out and fell over the side.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Although Trowa was closer, Duo was faster. As Lizzy fell, he ran up and caught her easily. "Oh, Lizzy, Lizzy, please wake up!"  
  
Hilde came running up to her husband, hand over her stomach. "Liz!" She touched her shoulder gently, winced in sympathy, then started searching her husband's sister for other wounds and stopping their bloodflow with scraps of fabric from her ruined clothing.  
  
"Rasid!"  
  
"I've already called an ambulance, Master Quatre. They should be here any minute," the tall Arab informed the blonde.  
  
Duo looked up from Lizzy's face to stare into Quatre's. "When she wakes up, you'd better thank her--she proably saved your life."  
  
Quatre blinked. "She?"  
  
"Eli's her street name. It's what we called her to save her--just in case her father knew that she was alive, because he had known that her mother was having a girl. Eli, short for Elizabeth."  
  
Scilence fell in the room. All the other guests had fled when the gunfire started. Quatre thought to himself, /I see now./  
  
He did. With Lizzy totally out of it, everything she had kept secret from him came pouring out of her, like a bucket with no bottom. She had no other option to lie to him, especially considering the fact that his oldest sister had been married to him. And she hadn't wanted to lie to him, but the past she had told him was completely true. Instead of feeling pain and anger at being lied to, he sympathized with her, and even found himself praying that she would be all right.  
  
"Four," Hilde's voice cut though the scilence. "One in her shoulder, one in her side, one in her leg, and one grazed her cheek. It also looks like she's been pistol-whipped. Oh, Duo..."  
  
"Shhh, Hil, calm down. She'll be alright." He looked down into Lizzy's face again. "She just has to be."  
  
* * * * * 


	5. Chapter Five--Lizzy Awakens

Wow, five chapters! Good gosh, I love chaptering!  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Other Maxwell  
  
by Grace Musica  
  
Chapter Five  
  
Lizzy Awakens  
  
* * * * *  
  
Two weeks of lying up in the hospital was beginning to wear on the twins, Quatre reflected. He had broken his promise to Lizzy and told the twins about their family tie to her. And, as Quatre had suspected they would, they wanted to be by her side when she woke up. However, if Lizzy didn't get a move on...  
  
He looked over at his two nieces and nephew. The three were curled up on a cot in the room, fast asleep, Audrey sleeping between the twins, who had become very protective of her as of late. Duo was snoozing in another chair, Hilde shaking her head while looking at her husband.  
  
"Look, Quatre, I'm starved and REALLY craving something sweet. Would you mind terribly if I let you alone for about ten minutes while I go downstairs to the cafeteria?"  
  
"No, not at all. In fact, I'm impressed you waited this long to ask me."  
  
"Damn phycic bastard."  
  
"Love you too, Hilde."  
  
"Oh, you know I mean it in the most loving way."  
  
"Go and get your sugar fix! Begone!"  
  
"I'll bring you a drink."  
  
Quatre sighed as he heard the door shut behind her. He put his elbows on his knees, and put his chin in his hands. Shutting his eyes, he began to pray. /Liz? If you can hear me, please come back to us... We need you... I need you... You can't leave us so soon, or at least without saying good-bye.... Please, please, come back./  
  
Almost as if she had heard him, Lizzy moaned in pain. She put her hand up to her shoulder, but (unfortunately for her) it was the arm her IV was in, so the needle pulled her skin and she cried out in pain and started awake.  
  
Quatre pulled his chair up closer to the bed. "Shhh, calm down, you shouldn't move at all, you might open the wounds back up."  
  
Lizzy blinked in confusion. "Quatre? What am I doing here?" She put a hand to her head. "Oh, the last thing I remember clearly is pain. A lot of pain."  
  
"You were shot. And you saved a lot of lives to boot."  
  
Lizzy grinned sheepishly. "I did, didn't I?"  
  
"Ah, I always knew there were no modest Maxwells."  
  
Lizzy blushed a bit. "I guess you know that I lied to you. I'm really sorry, Quatre, but I--"  
  
"I know you had to, and I understand. I'm not angry, you're not fired." He brushed a strand of dark brown hair out of her sapphire blue eyes, and felt his heart skip a beat. Was he falling for her? "Now, you rest up and get better. We need a healthy Maxwell to look after her siblings."  
  
"I suppose you told them about their father?"  
  
"I had no choice--it was either me or the press."  
  
"Good choice, Mr. Winner."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Lizzy recovered marvously well. Two days after she woke up, she was walking around on her own (dispite protests from everyone else), but she spent most of her time sitting up in her bed, reading books to her little brother and sisters.  
  
Two weeks after Lizzy woke up, Hilde checked into the hospital herself--and had a little boy, Michael (or Trio, as Lizzy had sarcastically commented when she recieved the good news). Duo had taken the twins down to the nursery to see the new baby, leaving Quatre and Audrey with Lizzy. Lizzy was humming softly to her baby sister, when the child reached up and grabbed at her necklace.  
  
"Oh, no, little one, I don't think so." Lizzy pried the child's hand off of the chain around her neck. "This is special. Maybe when you grow up, I'll let you wear it."  
  
Quatre caught a quick gleam of gold as Lizzy began to tuck the necklace down the front of her shirt. Catching him staring out of the corner of her eye, she paused. "Can I help you?"  
  
"May I?" he asked, pointing at the necklace. Lizzy nodded, and bent her head. Quatre undid the clasp and held the chain up. It was a simple gold chain, very finely crafted, with a charm on the end. It was shaped like a cross, colored gold, and there wasn't anything unusual about it, until it caught the sunlight; then, it sparkled irridecently. Audrey cooed and clapped her hands in glee, and her elder sister smiled as well. "What's this made of? I've never seen anything like it."  
  
"It's gold, overlaid with very thin pieces of mother-of-pearl. It belonged to my mother--it's the only thing I have of hers. It belonged to her mother, and her mother before her, and so on. It predates the nineteenth century AD, before humans immigrated to colonies and AC started, so it's very valuble."  
  
"It's gorgeous."  
  
"Thank you. I'll either give it to my daughter--if I ever marry--or give it to one of these to keep after I'm gone."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The next week was a good week--both Hilde and Lizzy were released from the hospital. The doctors were shocked and still scratching their heads, even as Lizzy wobbled out the front doors--she had healed in record time, even for all the technology they had. Doctors were saying it was a miricle--Duo insisted on the Maxwell stubborness. Quatre was inclined to agree; Lizzy had done nothing but complain about having to sit around doing nothing.  
  
But whatever it was--miricle, attitude, whatever--it worked wonders. She was supported by crutches, and told not to do any strenuous exercise for a bit (at this, Lizzy rolled her eyes and sent Quatre a mental message: /With those guys at home? I don't think so./), but other than that, she was fine.  
  
Back at the Winner household, the Maxwells, Quatre, and Rasid were watching the antics of 'the second generation', as Duo had started calling them. The twins played gently with the new baby, but soon got bored and started playing between themselves.  
  
"I think they're sizing each other up," Hilde told her sister-in-law with a grin as she watched Audrey and Trio stare at each other with big eyes.  
  
"Oh, bro, it's coming to blows already," Lizzy laughed, nudging Duo in the stomach.  
  
Duo snickered and patted Lizzy on the head lightly. "No, no, I think it's more 'our family is screwed up big-time'."  
  
"Yeah. 'Do I have to call you Aunt Audrey?'" Lizzy said in a small voice, immitating her nephew, and getting a laugh from her friends.  
  
"So.... Sis, when am I going to get a niece or nephew?" Duo asked, eyebrows raised.  
  
Lizzy cursed inwardly. Duo could always read her like a book. "Um... Never?"  
  
"Honestly, you're so negative," Quatre told her. Lizzy just blinked at him.  
  
"Okay, okay, you win, Quatre. Now I have a question for you, Maxwell--When am I going to get a niece?"  
  
"Whenever men can give birth," Hilde replied smoothly, smiling at her husband.  
  
"Yeah, and who's being negative now?"  
  
* * * * * 


	6. Chapter Six--Six Years Later

I think the title of this chapter is quite appropriate--considering that this is the sixth chapter. Oh, and a quick message to Kou: 'David, you're blushing again...'  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Other Maxwell  
  
by Grace Musica  
  
Chapter Six  
  
Six Years Later  
  
* * * * *  
  
"No, Thomas. Wrong note. Try it again."  
  
"But Liz--"  
  
"No buts, Tom. You got it wrong, try it again."  
  
"Has it been an hour yet? I'm sure it has, that means I'm free."  
  
"No, it's been fifty minutes. What you need is a watch, sir."  
  
"But you let Natalie go!"  
  
"Natalie played right, and she's going to her other lessons. You play this song right, I'll let you go, too."  
  
"But--"  
  
"Thomas Calvin Winner, you got the note wrong, and you're not leaving until you play it right! Now, play it again."  
  
"Okay, okay... Damn Nazi."  
  
"Tom, I'm warning you..."  
  
Quatre, who had been standing in the hall during the entire exchange, decided to put his foot down. He opened the double doors of the music room wide and walked in, making Thomas jump. "Uncle Quatre!"  
  
Quatre, however, ignored his nephew. "Is there a problem?"  
  
Lizzy grinned, catching Quatre's gist. "No, Mr. Winner, no problem at all. Thomas here was almost ready to leave for his study lessons, buuuuuuuut," here, she grabbed a handful of Thomas' blonde hair and tugged, "he has to finish his music lesson first."  
  
Quatre knew that Lizzy wasn't pulling hard, but Thomas was trying to milk it for all that it was worth--without making a sound. His face contorted into a look of intense pain and he began thrashing in his chair. Lizzy pulled his head back and looked down in his face. "Stop the melodramatics, boy."  
  
"Listen to Ms. Maxwell. Play the music, then you can go."  
  
Lizzy let go of Thomas' hair and backed away, looking at the music book over her brother's shoulder. Thomas sighed, knowing he was beaten, and raised the trumpet to his lips. The long, sorrowful, brassy notes of 'Taps' filled the room, making Quatre grin. The boy was very grown up, much different for the scared four-year-old that had turned up on his doorstep. He had even undergone a name change--from Donovan to Winner, when Quatre had adopted the three kids about five years ago, on Lizzy's request. The now-sturdy ten-year-old was practically an exact copy of his uncle, but he sure had his sister's attitude, that was for sure.   
  
Lizzy, on the other hand, was looking more like a girl than the day she had walked though the Winner door. She was dressed in a black skirt and a white shirt, and her hair, which now reached down to her waist, was braided back, making her look exacally like and totally different than Duo. She was pretty, picturesque, like a porcelin doll he was scared to drop and break, but with an underlying strength, wry sense of humor, and all the mannerisms of her siblings, from Duo to Audrey. As she leaned closer to read the notes, her cross glinted in the sun, turning it from gold to a rainbow.  
  
Finally, Thomas finished up his piece and looked up at Lizzy. "NOW can I go?"  
  
Lizzy laughed and ruffled his hair. "I guess so. You go on now, I'll put your things away."  
  
Thomas gave a whoop of joy, jumped up and ran out the room, calling out his farewells.  
  
"And to think, he used to be the quiet one," Quatre commented, shaking his head.  
  
Lizzy smiled innocently. "I had nothing to do with it, I swear."  
  
"Riiiight, I am so sure. Corrupting my children, how dare you."   
  
Lizzy laughed at that. "Ah, it's a Maxwell thing. Corrupt the youngest generation, then work on the older." She winked and slid a chair over for him, while she flitted around the room, putting away music and instruments and generally staritening up.  
  
"I don't even need to have someone come through and clean up though here--you do it anyway."  
  
Lizzy dropped a mock-curtsey. "Why thankee, sir, I try my best." She sat in Thomas' seat and faced Quatre. "Six years."  
  
"I know. It's amazing, they just fly by, don't they?"  
  
Lizzy laughed. "Well, they CAN be painful at times..." She put a hand to her shoulder, but smiled brightly at Quatre. "But all of it was worth it."  
  
"Worth what, Lizzy?"  
  
/You? Hopefully?/ "Being able to be a part of my family--or I should say your family, now. I still don't know how to thank you for taking them in."  
  
"One: They're family. Two: It's the least I could do to pay you back."  
  
Lizzy sighed. "I know, I know, and we've had this conversation before, but still... I feel so much in your debt, Quatre. And I have no idea how to pay it back."   
  
There was an awkward scilence between the two.   
  
/Oh, Christ,/ Lizzy prayed, /PLEASE let my walls be strong enough, please don't let him know, please oh please oh please.../  
  
They were, but even if they had been down, Quatre wasn't paying any attention. He was too busy letting his imagination run wild, what it would be like to hold her, kiss her... Among other things...  
  
Suddenly, their eyes met and they both looked away sheepishly.  
  
And that was how Abdul found them.  
  
"Hey, I hope I'm not interrupting anything!"  
  
At those words, Lizzy turned bright red ((M/N: Yes, Kou, again a la David)) and suddently became very interested in something out the window. Quatre just glared at Abdul. "What?"  
  
"Hey, don't kill the messenger! I just came to tell you that one--lunch is ready, and two--Mr. Stevens is here with his daughter. What should I do?"  
  
Quatre looked at Lizzy out of the corner of his eye. She was looking ashamed and embarrased. He didn't blame her. "One--set another place for lunch with me, and   
  
two--" He looked over at Lizzy again quickly and grinned at Abdul. "Tell Mr. Stevens that I'm sorry, but I'm not feeling well today, and that if he would just call my secretary and make another appointment, I would appreciate it."  
  
Lizzy gasped and stared at Quatre. Abdul just stood, staring at the blonde over his sunglasses.  
  
"Well, go!" Quatre faked a cough for emphasis.  
  
Abdul grinned widely. "Yes sir." With that, he dissapeared from the doorway.  
  
Quatre bit his bottom lip. He turned and faced Lizzy, and grinned a bit sheepishly. "Since the kids are busy for the rest of the day, do you care to have lunch with me?"  
  
Lizzy blinked. /He blew them off for me? Oh my God.../ She smiled. "I'd like that alot."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Quatre and Lizzy had a rather nice lunch on the patio in the sun. What it was, Lizzy didn't know: She hardly tasted the food, too caught up in the converation they were having. Of course, she had no idea what it was about. She was just hoping she wasn't babling like an idiot.  
  
Afterwards, the two took a nice walk around and around the garden maze, not saying much. They had a near brush with the Stevens--Rasid was taking them on a walk as well, and Quatre and Lizzy had to duck though the bushes to escape being seen. Lizzy turned around when she saw where they were and gasped.  
  
"Oh, Quatre, it's beautiful!"  
  
They were in a small garden within the maze of bushes, with a small weeping willow, a bench, and a pond with a fountain in the middle. Stepping stones were scattered thoughout the water, and designs made of multi-colored stones were imprinted into the grass, which had just been cut. Someone was keeping up this garden.  
  
"I know. It's were I come when things get too hard for me to handle. Do you like it?"  
  
"Like it? I love it! It reminds me of the prayer garden that we had out behind the church when I was growing up. It was my favorite place to just go and read, or think." She walked over to the weeping willow and gently ran her hand across the curtain of leaves, making them sway. "It's beautiful," she repeated, turning back around to Quatre, smiling, her eyes twinkling. "The most beautiful thing I've ever seen."  
  
"I've seen something more beautiful," he replied, smiling back at her.  
  
She blushed and moved over towards the pond. She removed her shoes and socks and stepped into the pond, making the fish scatter.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Something that used to get me into trouble as a child." She gathered her skirts up to around her knees and sat down on the bank, her back to Quatre.  
  
"May I join you?"  
  
"If you want to."  
  
Quatre took off his own socks and shoes and followed suit. The two sat together in relative scilence, not looking at each other, just staring strait ahead. Lizzy's hands absently went to her braid and began worrying the ends of it, making it come undone. Suddently, she couldn't stand the scilence any longer. She looked over at Quatre. "Why did you cancel your meeting this afternoon?"  
  
Quatre looked back at her. "Do you want the honest truth?" He saw Lizzy nod, and oblidged her. "Because I can't stand that man, or his daughter. He wants me to marry her, start a harem or something, and I don't want to do that."  
  
"Why not? She's a good match." Lizzy was only repeating what the Stevens girl, Laura, had told her, rather nastily at the time. "The two of you would compliment each other well. And she's very pretty, too."  
  
"Yeah, well, there's only one problem with that."  
  
"And that would be?"  
  
"I don't love her."  
  
"Oh, I see," she replied calmly, looking back into the water. Lizzy could have sworn she heard her heart sing with joy at those four words. /YES! Thank you, Lord in Heaven!/  
  
"Now, I get ask you a question."  
  
"Seems fair enough."  
  
"And please, tell me the truth."  
  
"All right."  
  
Silence fell between the two of them for about half a minute. "How do you feel about me?"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Lizzy's head snapped over at Quatre. She could practically see his soul shining out though his eyes. "You said you'd tell the truth. Please, I need to know."  
  
Suddently, Lizzy closed herself up. She took her feet out of the water, hugged her knees to her chest and rested her chin on the top of them. "Quatre, please, ask me anything, anything else in the world, but that."  
  
"Why? It's a question I want to know the answer to. I NEED to know the answer to."  
  
Lizzy took a deep, shuttering breath, fighting back tears that threatened to spill down her face. "You want the answer? Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Even if it'll change your life forever? Break your heart or make you happier than you've ever known? Lose a friend, even?"  
  
"Yes. It's a risk I'm willing to take."  
  
Lizzy was silent, nervous as hell to give him the answer.   
  
"Lizzy, please." He put a hand under her chin and turned her face towards his gently. "Please, tell me."  
  
"I love you."  
  
The words were barely a wisper, but they were louder than anything Quatre had ever heard before. "I love you, Quatre. I'm just afraid you don't feel the same."  
  
"Oh, Lizzy." Quatre moved his hand from her chin to her cheek. He leaned in and kissed her gently. He pulled back a bit, and ran his hands up and down her arms, sending chills up her spine. Lizzy slid her own hands up to behind his neck. He pulled her close and kissed her again, this time, with her kissing back. Lizzy tightened her arms around Quatre's neck, pulling him closer, totally surrendering herself. Quatre's arms were around her waist, hands teasing wisps of her hair.  
  
Suddently, something went wrong. Lizzy's eyes shot open, and she pulled back, pushing at Quatre. He looked at her confused. "What's wrong, love?"  
  
"I'm sorry, I can't." Lizzy shook her head, standing up. Quatre stared at her.  
  
"Lizzy..."  
  
"Quatre, please, stop."  
  
"Lizzy, why can't you?"  
  
She knelt back down next to him. "I just... It's wrong, on so many levels. You're my employer, my best friend... Hell, we're even practically family, my siblings are your sister's kids."  
  
Quatre ran a hand through her hair. "I know. But I can't help it."  
  
She leaned in and kissed him softly. Quatre grabbed her hand as she stood up and tried to turn away.  
  
"Quatre, let me go."  
  
"Lizzy, please, stay."  
  
"Quatre..."  
  
"Liz, please?"  
  
"Quatre, LET ME GO!"  
  
The command was accompanied with a mental push. Unused to such contact, Quatre's eyes went wide and he abided to her wish. Lizzy turned, gathered up her skirt, and ran though the brush, leaving her shoes behind.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Quatre decided he liked being phycic, after all. He knew exacally where she had run off to, and it wasn't where he would've expected at all--the library.  
  
But of course, he would have known anyway. All the maids were staring down the halls that Lizzy had fled down, confused looks on their faces. When Quatre came storming down the halls, most made themselves scarce, then came back, full force when he was gone. A few of the braver ones followed.  
  
As Quatre reached the big double doors of the library, he encountered a young woman by the name of Kayla. Lizzy and Kayla were good friends, and Kayla was apparently attempting to talk to Lizzy though the door. "Excuse me."  
  
"Oh! Mr. Winner! I'm afraid she's locked herself in, and I don't have a key to this room..."  
  
He thought about what to do for a split-second, then made up his mind. "Move back, girls."  
  
The maids moved back about four feet, looking at each other and wondering what the hell was going on. He took two steps back and took a deep breath. Kayla got the drift sooner than most. "Mr. Winner, no!"  
  
Too late. Quatre had kicked the door open and was storming into the room. Lizzy's squeals of protest could be heard by all.  
  
"Quatre Winner, how dare you! I can't believe! Of all the embarassing things-! What?! What the hell do you think you're doing?! Put me down this instant! Quatre! Quatre, please put me down!"  
  
Quatre appeared in the doorway, Lizzy in his arms, protesting loudly and hitting his shoulder with her closed fists. Quatre nodded to the maids. "Ladies. I believe you have a job to do." With that, he continued down the hall, Lizzy's protesting taking a turn for the worse.  
  
"Goddamnit, you son of a bitch, you'd better put me down this instant or I'll beat your ass! Damnit, Quatre put me down! Damn Al Queda bastard, I'll show you   
  
a fucking jihad! If you don't put me down, I'll remove the only way you'll pass the family name! PUT ME DOWN!"  
  
[M/N: I'm sorry. I know, I know, not appropriate, but I was rereading this RP/chat with Kou... You know which one... Well in it, I call Quatre an 'Al Queda bastard', and I thought I should just throw it in here... Now on with the fic!]  
  
* * * * *  
  
Finally, Quatre abided to her wish--he threw her on his bed. "Well, now that you've made a scene, are you happy?"  
  
"Oh, *I* made a scene?" Lizzy jumped to her feet and pointed an accusing finger at him. "I'm not the one who kicked the fucking doors in, then carried someone   
  
throughout the house!"  
  
Quatre batted her hand away. "Look, Liz, just calm down."  
  
"Well, I don't want to calm down! Maybe I'll just stay mad at you forever!" As if to prove her point, she crossed her arms and looked away. It was the exact same thing he'd watched Natalie do countless times when she was in one of her moods. He shook his head.  
  
"Lizzy, please, just talk to me."  
  
"I don't want to talk!" Her sapphire blue eyes stared him down, blue fire dancing in them. God, he loved it when she got angry.  
  
"Good. Neither do I." He grabbed her arms and pulled her close to him. She looked up into his eyes as he rested his hands on her waist, her features going from pissed to submissive.  
  
"It is so fucking hard to stay mad at you for long, do you know that?"  
  
"That's why you love me."  
  
Lizzy gave him a look, then wound her arms around his neck. "Yes, that's why I love you." She pressed a kiss onto his cheek, and Quatre caught her lips in a hot kiss of his own. They pulled apart after quite a while, and Lizzy looked sheepishly at Quatre. "I'm sorry if I hurt you."  
  
"Ah, I've had worse."  
  
"What about the maids? You know how they gossip, and where we are right now... It's not going to look good at all."  
  
"Ah, screw the maids. I could care yes."  
  
"Quatre, love, don't screw the maids." She moved his hands down to his waist and looked at him suggestively.  
  
"Oh, God I love you."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Lizzy awoke to an intense feeling of love, warmth, and peace. She lay there quietly, eyes shut, not wanting to ruin the moment... Until she felt another body in her bed.  
  
Her eyes flew open, and she found herself looking into Quatre's smiling face. Suddenly, she remembered what had happened--and that she was in HIS bed. She   
  
blushed. "Um, hi?"  
  
Quatre laughed softly and immitated her. "Um, hi?"  
  
"Funny. Very funny."  
  
Quatre brushed a strand of brown hair out of her eyes and kissed her gently. She slid her arms up around his neck again as his looped around her waist. When they   
  
broke apart, they lay together, not moving, enjoying the moment.  
  
"What do we do now, Quatre?"  
  
Quatre pulled her closer to him in a hug. "I'm not exacally sure. Can you handle teasing from the maids?"  
  
"If you can handle teasing from Rasid, I can handle it."  
  
He kissed her again. "Now, the only problem is the kids..."  
  
"What will we tell them?"  
  
"We'll have to tell them the truth. They're smart--they'll understand."  
  
Lizzy sighed and buried her face into Quatre's shoulder. "I'm so confused, scared... Oh, God, I don' t even know what I feel anymore..."  
  
"Lizzy... I love you."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
* * * * * 


	7. Chapter Seven--Lizzy's... Leaving?! Or ...

Seven chapters, seven chapters!  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Other Maxwell  
  
by Grace Musica  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
Lizzy's... Leaving!? Or Is She...?  
  
* * * * *  
  
Quatre awoke the next morning to find Lizzy gone. He had half expected it--she didn't want to be caught by anyone and make rumors fly faster. But still, he wished he could've woken up with her next to him. The perfect way to start the day. Well, he would have to make do with the memories of her face, her smell, her hair, her taste, her kiss...  
  
He stretched out on his back and put his hands behind his head, grinning like an idiot.  
  
"Today is going to be a long day."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Quatre could not have been more correct. He only saw Lizzy three times that day--once during lunch, once during dinner, and once in the hall, where she turned tail and ran back down the stairs, leaving Quatre more than a little confused. She didn't even talk to him. It was like she was deliberately ignoring him, or doing it to break his heart.  
  
/What the hell?/  
  
* * * * *  
  
This went on for a good week. Add in the teasing from Rasid and the rest of the Corps and Quatre was already at his rope's end. What happened next didn't make things better.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Quatre almost didn't hear the knock on his office door--it was that soft. Stressed, he called out, "It's open!"  
  
The door opened and Lizzy walked in. Quatre jumped to his feet, relieved to simply see her face. "Lizzy, were have you been? I've missed--."  
  
"Mr. Winner, please."  
  
Those three soft words had a profound effect on Quatre. He was silent as Lizzy crossed the floor and placed a manilla folder on his desk. The blonde quickly scooped it up and opened it. It was her resignation.  
  
"Lizzy?"  
  
"I have to do this, Quatre. I'm afraid I've made a big mistake."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I... damnit, I knew what I wanted to say a few minutes ago." She looked down and tucked a strand of brown hair back behind her ears. "I think that things would be better if I just dissapeared."  
  
"Really? What about Natalie? And Thomas? And Audrey? And... and me? I don't think I'd be able to survive if you left now."  
  
"I... I have to do this."  
  
"Lizzy, please, please don't leave."  
  
"I don't want to, Quatre, honestly, I don't. These past years have been the best in my life--more fun than running around with Duo, in fact. But this is something I have to do."  
  
Quatre walked around from behind his desk while she was speaking and walked up to her. He put his hands on her ams. "Please stay, Lizzy." He put his right hand up on her cheek and rubbed it with his thumb. "Don't leave. If not for us, stay for your siblings."  
  
Lizzy turned her face away. "The kids... God, the kids. I wish I could stay with them forever, but they're growing up so fast... We'd have to part ways someday, right?"  
  
Quatre noticed that his thumb had become wet with Lizzy's tears. He brushed them away and kissed her softly. Lizzy pulled away from him.  
  
"Don't make this any harder than it has to be, Quatre."  
  
"Lizzy--damnit--Lizzy, don't leave, please. We need you. I need you." He kissed her again, but this time, she didn't move away. She didn't exacally kiss him back either, however. So Quatre started talking some more. "I fell in love with you a good four years ago. No, wait, I realized I was in love with you four years ago. I proabaly loved you before that. I was so scared--so scared!--to tell you about the way I felt, because I was afraid you would turn tail and run. Last week, I felt something I've never felt before. And all this past week, I've been dying inside. And you've been here. If you leave... I don't know what'll happen."  
  
"Quatre, I... I hate you."  
  
He was crushed. He felt betrayed, hurt, heartbroken... He wanted to rip out his heart.  
  
"I hate you and love you and--oh God," Lizzy finished, fairly jumping into his arms and kissing him passionately. Quatre held her to him, kissing her back, his hands busy tangeling themselves in her long brown net of hair. When they pulled away, he saw tears streaming down her face again.  
  
"Shhh, love, don't cry, it'll be all right. Shhh." He kissed away the tears leaking from the corners of her eyes, an action that just made her cry harder. "Please stop crying, Lizzy. It's so unlike you."  
  
"I-I-I-I can't help it. I'm so worried about... everything. So worried."  
  
"Lizzy, I just want you to remember one thing. You can forget everything else, but just remember this." He tipped her head back and looked her in the eyes. "I love you. And I'd do anything, anything for you." He kissed her. "I love you so much. Stay. Marry me, please."  
  
Lizzy let out a low chuckle. "This isn't exacally the way I expected it..."  
  
So, Quatre got down on his knees and asked again. "Lizzy, marry me. Please."  
  
Lizzy looked down and ran a hand though his blonde locks. "Quatre... Are you willing for Thomas to be your brother-in-law and your nephew? Hell, we're already giving twentieth century Kentucky a run for their money..."  
  
[M/N: I'm really sorry! I'm watching 'Jay Leno' right now, and he just made a crack about it, and I thought it seemed appropriate. I've got nothing against ya! Love you, honest!]  
  
Quatre laughed and kissed Lizzy's stomach. "That's the Liz I know, the joke-maker. But please, Liz, give me an answer. And yes, I'm willing for my nephew to be my brother-in-law. I'm willing for my two nieces to be my sisters-in-law. Besides, I already see them as my own children. Our relationships wouldn't change one ioda. They'd still be the same, we'd still be the same. Please, Liz, say you'll marry me."  
  
Lizzy ran her hand though his hair again. "Quatre, I... I... I..."  
  
Quatre shut his eyes, praying.   
  
"Yes."  
  
Quatre's eyes snapped open, meeting Lizzy's.  
  
"Yes! Yes, I'll marry you! I accept!"  
  
Quatre laughed, stood, picked Lizzy up and spun her around a few times as Lizzy laughed along with him. He put his fiancee back on the gournd and kissed her, hot and hard. Lizzy wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed back, but broke off when she finally heard the sounds comming from the direction at the door. The couple looked over to find that the enire household, from servants to Maganac Corps, had either come into the room or was standing in the doorway, watching the two. They were all doing one of three things--cheering, clapping, or crying.  
  
Lizzy looked at Quatre with pleading eyes, and Quatre complied with her mental request.  
  
"You people have intruded on my personal life enough. GET BACK TO WORK!"  
  
"Man, and we all thought Lizzy would be GOOD for you, Master Quatre!"  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
"The nerve! What a skank! I can't believe that girl! Two months without a word, then suddently, it's 'Drop everything! Come on over! Bring the kids!' It's an outrage! A scandal!"  
  
"Duo, calm down! Honestly, giving my children ideas."  
  
The Maxwell family was standing in the main hall of the Winner residence, waiting for Lizzy. Duo, very pissed, was tapping his foot. Hilde was attempting to calm him down, but failing horribly. Trio was standing on the other side of his mother, holding the hand of his four-year-old sister, Melissa.  
  
"Mommy," the tiny black-haired girl looked up at Hilde. "What's a skank?"  
  
"I'll tell you when you're older," Hilde replied, giving Duo a death glare. Duo smiled back at his wife innocently.  
  
"Well, anyway, I'm more upset about not knowing what's going on. TWO MONTHS!"  
  
"Duo, breathe. You're not her father, she doesn't have to check in with you every day."  
  
"Listen to your wife, Maxwell." The Maxwell family looked up at Lizzy, who was at the top of the stairs. "She's much smarter than you."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Oh, you first, brother dear." With that, she decended the stairs, holding up the hem of her long skirt so she wouldn't fall. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, her two sisters and her brother came barreling down the stairs, almost knocking over Duo and Hilde. Lizzy gave Melissa and Trio a hug and a kiss each. "What's up, kids?"  
  
"We might say the same thing to you, Aunt Lizzy," Melissa told her aunt seriously.  
  
Lizzy laughed and ruffled Melissa's hair. "You're getting too much like your father--stop it," she commanded, finishing by tweaking the lass's nose and making her laugh.  
  
"Why don't you go off and play, kids?" Quatre walked up behind Lizzy and smiled down at them. "We've got things to talk about."  
  
"Like what?" Thomas crossed his arms and stared at his uncle in deep suspision.  
  
"Nothing that would interest you."  
  
"Really? Try me."  
  
"Mircobiology, decanting, and alcohol preps and how they apply to everyday use," Lizzy chimed in.  
  
Before the sentence was even out, the kids had dissapeared.  
  
Duo scratched his head. "Sis, I don't even know what you said."  
  
"Come on, come take a walk with us."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The four friends walked around the garden, chatting pleasantly about nothing, really. Suddently, Duo threw a stick over a high wall of bushes, and a loud 'plink' was heard when it landed.  
  
"Okay, I've had enough. You two are my best friends, and I KNOW something's up, so just spill it right now."  
  
Quatre and Lizzy both looked at each other, then shook their heads. "Nah."  
  
"Liz..."  
  
Hilde came up and put a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Let me. Come on, guys, let us in on your secret, please?"  
  
Lizzy sighed, put her arm around a nearby tree, and smiled at Duo. "I guess I owe you two an appology."  
  
"For what? Is something wrong?"  
  
"Hey, nothing's *wrong* guys. I'll promise you that." Lizzy looked over at Hilde and smiled widely. That's when she noticed the wedding ring on Lizzy's hand. She froze, shocked. Lizzy's smile widened at the expression on her sister-in-law's face.  
  
"Okay, then, what's right?"  
  
Lizzy and Quatre looked at each other. "She's smarter than we give her credit for," the brunette told her husband.  
  
"Well, considering the huge clue you gave 'em. Honestly." Quatre rolled his eyes.  
  
"Hello? Are we invisible?" Duo cried out, getting cross.  
  
"I owe you an appology for not calling you about this," Lizzy said, holding up her hand and showing her brother the wedding ring. "Now, what is this?"  
  
"A-a-a-a-a wedding ring," Duo sputtered out, blinking.  
  
"And who do you think gave me this ring?" Lizzy asked, looking at Lizzy and rolling her eyes.  
  
Quatre came up behind his wife and put his arms around her neck. "You have three guesses, and the first two don't count."  
  
"You mean-you-you MEAN--" he choked out, disbelieving.  
  
Lizzy and Quatre nodded at him, grinning.  
  
"No way. No-no way! You're kidding right? Right?" He stared at them, shaking their head, and still didn't believe them. "You guys are really good jokers, but okay, the joke's over, you win. Now, where's the camera?"  
  
"Duo, no camera, no lies," Quatre patiently explained. "Do you want to see the licence?"  
  
"You're not kidding." He turned to Hilde. "They're not kidding."  
  
"Really, Duo!" Hilde replied sarcastically. She gave her sister-in-law a hug. "Congrats!"  
  
"Oh, Christ, this family just gets more and more confusing... Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. This means that me and Quatre are brothers-in-law, right? Dude, hook me up!"  
  
Hilde rolled her eyes. "My husband the hero."  
  
"I just thank God that he's not blood," Lizzy told her jokingly.  
  
"Funny, SIS." Duo slid up next to Lizzy and elbowed her in the stomach. "And should I be expecting any nieces or nephews anytime soon?"  
  
"Um... seven months?" Lizzy said sheepishly, rubbing her stomach gently.  
  
"You mean..." Quatre started, trailing off mid-sentence. Lizzy smiled widely and nodded. "Oh, my..." He laughed, picked her up and spun her around a few times, while Lizzy laughed along. "Oops," he said, puting him down. "Can't do that anymore. We've got to be careful." He gave her a quick kiss.  
  
Duo turned to his wife. "I win, pay up."  
  
Hilde grumbled as she searched her pockets for a ten. "Of course you'd say they'd fall for each other. Why, oh, why did I say, 'You're crazy Duo'?"  
  
* * * * * 


	8. Chapter Eight--She's Having A Baby...

Eight chapters. Who would've thought! Kou, you should be happy now... Oh, and Kou? 'The pain! My body! My soul!'  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Other Maxwell  
  
by Grace Musica  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
She's Having A Baby...  
  
* * * * *  
  
"But, Lizzy! You're four month pregnant and you're JUST NOW telling us this?"  
  
"Thomas Calvin Winner, lower your voice this instant!" Lizzy ruffled her little brother's hair affectionately. "Okay, look buster: I was afraid I might lose the baby. I didn't want to get your hopes up, just to lose the baby. Happy?"  
  
"No, you should have told us."  
  
Lizzy sighed and threw up her hands. "I give up. You're driving me crazy."  
  
Natalie, however, was looking thoughtful. "Hey, Liz... Question. If you and Uncle Quatre have only been married three-and-a-half months, how can you be four months pregnant?"  
  
Lizzy looked at her husband. /In the movies, women always faint at this point. That being said: Can I faint now?/  
  
/Hey, she's your sister./  
  
/Bad boy. Go to our room./  
  
/Really, really? Can I, can I?/  
  
/No./  
  
/Damn! So close!/  
  
Lizzy looked down at Natalie. "Ask me when you're my age."  
  
Natalie sighed. "I've been getting that answer alot lately."  
  
"Okay, then. You do the math."  
  
Scilence. Then, "Oh, Lizzy!"  
  
"Hey, you wanted to know."  
  
"Not that much!"  
  
During this excange, little Audrey, a scarce six years old, had climbed up into her eldest sister's lap. "Lizzy? Where do babies come from?"  
  
"Um... Ask your Uncle Quatre," Lizzy replied smoothly, depositing her little sister into Quatre's lap.  
  
"What the hell--"  
  
"Oh, I just feel so tired! I think I'll go lie down for a while..."  
  
Quatre stared after his wife's retreating figure. He looked down at his niece and sighed. "Um, well..."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Quatre walked into his bedroom to find his wife lying on the bed, reading a book. She shut it when he walked in and took a glance at the clock on the bedside table. "Hm... thirty minutes. I'm impressed."  
  
Quatre raised an eyebrow and sat on the bed next to her. "I can't believe you. Bailing out on me like that."  
  
"I'm sorry, love. I'm just uncomfortable about talking about sex in front of other people. Especially if they're my little siblings."  
  
"You don't seem to have a problem talking to me about it."  
  
"Quatre! I'm sleeping with you. We're married. It's different."  
  
Quatre snickered softly. "You should have seen the look on your face when Natalie asked her question. It was REALLY funny."  
  
Lizzy sighed angrily. "Little upstart."  
  
"Hm. She reminds me of you."  
  
"So, are you going to leave me for my sister?"  
  
"Funny." He rolled over and took Lizzy in his arms. "But Thomas... I can't decide who he's more like: you or Duo."  
  
"Actually, I'm strongly reminded of Solo, every time I look at him. It's in the way he carries himself, his attitude, his overprotectiveness... I never knew anyone could be so overprotective."  
  
"Well, he does have our blood." He put a hand to his wife's stomach. "As does this child."  
  
Lizzy put her hand over Quatre's and kissed him. "Scared?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"We'll be okay." She kissed him again. "We've had good practice, we have good examples to draw from."  
  
They kissed again, and ended the conversation.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Four months later, Quatre was packing for a trip to one of his natural resounce satalites. A now very pregnant Lizzy was standing in the doorway, watching him, her arms around her stomach protectively.  
  
"I wish you didn't have to go."  
  
Quatre snapped his suitcase shut, straitened and turned to her. She was looking even more beautiful today, and it tore at his heart. He gave her a sad grin. "I wish I didn't have to go either, but I've got to, you know that."  
  
"I know, but still.... I wish I could at least go with you."  
  
The sadness in her voice tore at his heart. He took her in his arms, her stomach slightly getting in the way. "Now, you know you can't, the doctor said no travel, especially space travel." He put his hand to her cheek. "I'll call you as much as I can, I promise."  
  
"It still won't be the same. I'll miss you."  
  
"Ah, you'll have the kids. And I won't be gone for very long, you won't even know I'm gone." He kissed her gently. "And the kids are going to run you into the ground. I've told them not to go easy on you."  
  
"Great. I'm dead."  
  
Quatre chuckled and caputred her lips again. Lizzy wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him even closer and kissing him back. His hands ran up and down her back, and it might have gone even further, if not for the timely intervention of Abdul, who cleared his throat and knocked on the door.  
  
The two Winners looked at Abdul, who feared his life just might be in danger if he said what they knew he was going to say. He gulped. "Master Quatre, your ride to the airport is here, sir."  
  
Quatre nodded. "Very well, I'll be along shortly."  
  
Abdul nodded, took Quatre's suitcase, and left.  
  
Quatre looked at his wife sadly and kissed her. "Behave, okay?"  
  
"Ah, I'll try."  
  
Quatre chucked to himself, bent and kissed her stomach, and then kissed her again. "Will you be alright?"  
  
"I'll manage. You're right, I do have the kids."  
  
"I'll only be gone three weeks. I'll be back in time, I promise."  
  
Lizzy nodded, and Quatre kissed her for a third time. "I love you."  
  
"I love you, too."  
  
He kissed her again, and this time Lizzy gave him a shove. "Oh, for crying out loud, go before I change my mind!"  
  
"Okay." Quatre kissed her--again--and this time left the room.  
  
Lizzy, on the other hand, broke down.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Three weeks can seem like an eternity when you're in love and waiting for someone, though, as Lizzy soon found out. It had to be worse, due to the fact that they had a mind link between them. One week was hell, the second week was becoming pure torture. And it was only Monday. Quatre kept his promise and called her every day, but the calls just made her miss him even more.  
  
Her siblings, however, more than made up for his abstence. They did keep her busy as hell, and every night she slept dreamlessly, completely tired out from taking care of them and having to carry a good thirty extra pounds around.  
  
* * * * *  
  
She was sound asleep when Quatre came home. With good reason--he was home a week early. He shook her shoulders gently. "Liz, Liz, baby, wake up."  
  
Lizzy woke up a bit, looked at her husband, then shook her head, laying back down. "Too soon, it's a dream."  
  
"Lizzy, wake up."  
  
"Hm..."  
  
/ELIZABETH MAXWELL WINNER!/  
  
Lizzy sat straight up, blinking rapidly. "I'm up, I'm up!" She peered at her husband. "Quatre? You're home early..."  
  
"Yeah, I've been trying to tell you that..." Quatre rolled his eyes. "Heavy sleeper."  
  
"Shut up and kiss me."  
  
* * * * *  
  
A few days later, Lizzy awoke early in the morning with a start. Quatre, a light sleeper, was up instantly. "Wassamatter?" he asked, yawning.  
  
"No-nothing, just go back to sleep, love," she told him, swinging her legs around and throwing the covers off of her.  
  
A large wet spot was on Lizzy's side of the bed. Both Winners looked at each other, their eyes wide.  
  
"Okay, okay, calm down, now, it'll be all right," Quatre told his wife as he promptly panicked. "You go and change into some dry clothes, and I'll go tell Rasid what's happening, okay?"  
  
Lizzy nodded silently and Quatre gave her a quick kiss.  
  
"Okay. Okay..." He got out of bed and ran to the doorway, where he stopped and turned to look at Lizzy.  
  
"DEAR, RASID?"  
  
"O-o-okay."  
  
He dissapeared from the doorway, and Lizzy rolled her eyes. "Me, freak out? Riiiiight. There goes my husband, the hero."  
  
* * * * *  
  
An hour and a half later, Quatre was walking alongside a squat, red-headed nurse towards the delivery room. His wife had been weeled in not too much earlier. He had the paper clothes the nurse had given him over his street clothes, and he was trying to put his mask on the right way so he could go in when he noticed way too many orderlies running in and out of the room for it to be routine. One of them stopped and muttered something inaudible to the nurse, and she stopped him. "Mr. Winner, I'm sorry, you can't go in right now."  
  
"Why? What's wrong."  
  
"I don't know at this moment, if you'll wait here, please, I'll go and see."  
  
Not waiting for his answer, the woman walked briskly into the delivery room, holding her mask up to her face, and went up to one of the doctors in the room. As the door swung open, Quatre was hit mentally by a wave of pain and he could hear Lizzy's cries of pain. He started for the door and was almost inside the room when the nurse walked out. "Sir, I'm sorry, but you can't go in--"  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"You can't. You need to go to the waiting room and wait--"  
  
"TO HELL WITH WAITING, WHY CAN'T I SEE MY WIFE!?"  
  
The nurse sighed. "Sir, the baby is comming out feet first. The doctors have to preform an emergency c-section, and they don't want any panicking in the room. If you would please--"  
  
"I want to be with Lizzy. That way she won't panic."  
  
"Mr. Winner. We're going to have to give her a sedative and preform the c-section. Please, don't make a scene and make security escort you out of the hospital."  
  
Quatre hung his head in defeat and followed the fourty-something year old into the maternity waiting room, where his nieces, nephews, Duo, Hilde, Trowa and Rasid were waiting. Duo stood as he entered the room. "What's wrong?"  
  
"There's a complication," Quatre said, his voice distant. "She's having emergency surgery..." He managed to make it to a chair before he collapsed next to Trowa. He took off the paper cap that covered his blonde hair and twisted it in his hands as his brunette friend patted his back sympathetically.  
  
"I'm sure she'll be fine," he said, smiling a bit. "If she can take three bullets and be up and about in less than a month, childbirth'll be a breeze."  
  
[M/N: GASP! TROWA MADE A FUNNY! AND HE SMILED TO BOOT! I think I like this Trowa...]  
  
"Of course she'll be fine!" Thomas called out, standing up.  
  
"Yeah!" Natalie and Audrey piped up.  
  
Quatre smiled at the three. "Thanks, guys. I don't know why I was worried, anyway. After all, this IS Liz we're talking about."  
  
He didn't want to break their hearts and tell them that their mind link was broken.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The kids had fallen asleep long before the same red-headed, squat nurse who had accompanied Quatre down the hall entered the waiting room. Both Quatre and Duo jumped to their feet--Duo a little more carefully than Quatre, because Hilde had fallen asleep on his shoulder--and impatiently demanded a status on Lizzy.  
  
"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" The nurse looked at Quatre. "Mr. Winner, your wife is fine. She is also wide awake and demanding to know where you are."  
  
"And the baby?"  
  
The nurse wet her lips with her togune, pondering how to put her message into words that wouldn't send both men into phycopathic frenzy. "Mrs. Winner has requested that she herself tell you about your child, Mr. Winner. Now, if you will follow me, I shall take you to her room--"  
  
"What the hell?" Duo demanded, none to softly, and Hilde awoke with a start. "You mean I have to stay here?"  
  
"Well, sir, are you family?"  
  
"Well, no not technically--"  
  
"Of course he is." Quatre looked at the nurse. "He's is my brother-in-law. That woman over there is his wife, the kids are my nieces and nephews. And the other two--"  
  
"--Are just friends, come to give moral support," Trowa interrupted up from behind. "We'll stay with the kids, until they wake up."  
  
Rasid nodded. "You three go on."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Quatre, Duo, Hilde were standing outside of Lizzy's room, the nurse next to them. "We're going to have only one person go in first. After that, then the rest of you are allowed to go in. That's her request," she added, looking at Duo, who had his mouth open.  
  
The braided American sighed. "Well, Quatre, after you."  
  
"Thank you, Duo." He opened the door and walked in, hearing it shut behind him. Lizzy was sitting up in the bed. She smiled at him, and held out her hand. He walked over to her, pulled a chair up to her bed, and took her hand. "I'm sorry, Liz."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For not being there with you."  
  
Lizzy gave him a small grin. "You're too hard on yourself, Quatre. I was passed out, I wouldn't've even known if you were there or not, honest."  
  
"But still... Lizzy, what about the baby?"  
  
Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and Quatre knew what had happened. The baby had been still-born. Why else would she want to tell him herself? He put his arms around her, and stroked her hair, sorrow flowing through his veins. Then, he felt her breath at his ear.  
  
"If I have to go though that 29 more times for a boy, you're out of luck. You'll have to settle for an heiress."  
  
Quatre pulled away to look at Lizzy's face, which was split into a huge grin. "We have a little girl. And she is so beautiful, Quatre. So beautiful."  
  
Quatre kissed her, sorrow replaced with giddiness. "Well? When can I see her?"  
  
"Surprise, surprise!"  
  
He turned around to see Duo and Hilde walking in, pushing an incubator containing a pink bundle into the room. "Oh, Quatre... She's gorgeous."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"She's pretty, Lizzy," Audrey told her sister for the umpteenth time. The six Winners were picknicking out in the sun, out in the solitude garden where Lizzy and Quatre had first kissed a scarce nine months earlier. Lizzy, Quatre, and Audrey were sitting on a blanket under the weeping willow, Audrey holding her niece, Marianna Maria, gently. The twins were wading in the pond, trying to catch the goldfish with their bare hands. "But why did you call her Marianna?"  
  
Lizzy smiled and ran a hand though her little sister's hair. "Marianna for my mother, Maria for yours."  
  
"Oh, that's right."  
  
"Hey, Audrey! Come on, we need your help!"  
  
Audrey surrendered her niece over to Lizzy, and ran off to join her brother and sister. Quatre moved over and put an arm around Lizzy's waist. She looked up at him.  
  
"Well, Mrs. Winner? You've got everything you ever really wanted now: A home, friends, family. What else could you possibly want?"  
  
Lizzy looked out at her three siblings playing in the pond, then down at her daughter. She smiled to herself as she met her husband's eyes again.  
  
"A little boy?"  
  
"It's yours."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Okay, okay, okay. I know, I know, I know. I changed alot. I'm sorry, I couldn't help it! It just came to me as I was writting it, and I couldn't just ignore it! Ah, well, it WAS fun.  
  
And I know I also changed alot of the names. I have a good reason for that: the computer's in the living room, and Mom's been watching a "Law and Order" marathon. When I was typing Lizzy's past, it was a story about a girl who had been killed by the name of Beth Donovan, and her father was John, so I stuck that in, and Marianna was the name of a baby who died in a newer season, and I thought it was pretty, so I stuck it in.  
  
Well, Kou, I hope your happy. And you too, Faith, if you're reading this. I really hope you guys liked this. Tell me if you did! And on second thought, tell me if you didn't! 


End file.
